US 12281048 B1Patent grantUnited States

Mesoporous Ceramic for Catalysis and Filtration

Official patent title

Mesoporous nanocomposite

Arabic title: مركب نانوي متوسط المسام

Invention

Problem

Mixed-metal-oxide nanocomposites can require costly precursors, high-pressure equipment, lengthy processing, or extensive milling. Existing routes may also produce inconsistent particle sizes, agglomeration, and poorly controlled porosity.

Why it matters

A reproducible mesoporous oxide material could provide a platform for heterogeneous catalysis, adsorption, filtration, separation, and other applications that depend on accessible surface area and defined crystal phases.

Approach

The disclosure combines monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO2 with cubic Mg6MnO8 in a particulate mesoporous composite. A dropwise chelation and polyol-gel process followed by controlled heating and calcination produces defined composition, crystallite size, surface area, pore diameter, and pore volume.

Who may benefit

Potential beneficiaries include catalyst and filtration-media manufacturers, specialty-ceramic producers, environmental-material developers, separation-technology companies, and laboratories studying mixed-metal oxides.

Potential value

The material integrates three specified crystalline phases in a defined ZrO2-to-Mg6MnO8 composition and supplies measured mesopore and surface-area ranges together with a reproducible gel and calcination preparation route.

Background

Nanomaterials can improve catalysis, energy storage, separation, electronics, and remediation, but producing pure nanoscale phases often requires precise and costly processing. Incorporating them into composites can improve accessibility and combine useful properties, yet common sol-gel, hydrothermal, precipitation, vapor-deposition, and milling routes each involve tradeoffs in cost, pressure, temperature, particle uniformity, or scalability. The patent seeks a controlled mixed-oxide composite made through an aqueous chelation and gel route, with defined zirconia and magnesium-manganese-oxide phases and measurable mesoporosity.

Technology overview

An aqueous hydroxyalkyl-carboxylic-acid chelator, preferably tartaric acid, is added dropwise to magnesium, manganese, and zirconium salt solutions. A polyol is then added dropwise to form a gel, which is stirred and heated at 200–400 °C to a dry powder and calcined at 700–1000 °C. The claimed composite contains 70–90 wt.% ZrO2 and 10–30 wt.% Mg6MnO8, with monoclinic and tetragonal zirconia, cubic Mg6MnO8, 10–30 m²/g surface area, and 2–5 nm median pores.

Potential applications

Heterogeneous catalyst formulations.
Filtration membranes and porous separation media.
Adsorbent-material research for environmental treatment.
Mixed-metal-oxide ceramic and surface-reaction studies.

Evidence-supported advantages

Combines monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO2 with cubic Mg6MnO8.
Defines composition, crystallite size, surface area, pore diameter, and pore volume.
Uses aqueous salt and chelator solutions with a dropwise gel-forming process.
Is expressly described for heterogeneous catalysts and filtration media.

Development stage

Powder synthesis and XRD, EDX, SEM, and nitrogen-adsorption characterization are described; catalytic activity, membrane performance, durability, and application-scale validation were not established. The development stage was not independently verified.

Commercial opportunity

The powder may interest specialty-catalyst, ceramic, and filtration-material companies as a tunable mixed-oxide platform. Commercial assessment requires application-specific catalytic or separation data, reproducible scale-up, energy and precursor-cost analysis, powder handling, membrane incorporation, durability testing, and benchmarking against established zirconia composites.

Patent classifications

WIPO IPC

C04B35/488Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B35/624Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone

CPC

C04B35/488Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
B01J20/041Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/06Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/28016Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/28059Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/28071Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/28083Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J35/45Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J35/615Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J35/647Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J35/70Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
C01G45/1271Compounds containing metals not covered by subclasses C01D or C01F
C04B35/624Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B35/62655Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B35/6325Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B35/64Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B38/0054Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B38/0067Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C01P2002/10Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2002/20Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2002/32Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2002/60Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2002/72Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2002/85Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/03Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/51Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/54Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/61Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/62Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2006/12Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2006/14Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2006/16Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C04B2235/3206Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/3244Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/3262Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/3268Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/443Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/444Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/448Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/449Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/5409Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/5454Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/549Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/606Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/656Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/76Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/762Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/765Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone
C04B2235/781Lime; magnesia; slag; cements and their compositions; artificial stone; ceramics; refractories; treatment of natural stone

Inventors

First inventorEhab Abdelhamed Abdelrahman Ahmed

Keywords

mesoporous nanocomposite
zirconia
Mg6MnO8
mixed metal oxide
sol-gel
tartaric acid
heterogeneous catalyst
filtration membrane

Patent document and drawings

The patent publication is mapped to this record. Patent drawings remain within that publication; no separately cleared public media package has been supplied.